Monday morning, just as I was getting ready to dry my hair and get to work, the phone rang. On the other end was Brenna, my oldest daughter who still lives in town. Surprisingly the was calmly telling me that she'd been in a serious car accident. Leaving my hair to dry in the wind and clothed myself and hopped in my car to rescue my baby.
There wasn't much I could do. She was standing at the scene trying to gather her wits. Her car was totaled. The other car that t-boned her only lost the license plate.
Due to the accident up the road a few blocks, two of three lanes of traffic had come to a stand still. The drivers in those two lanes waved her across. Cautiously she inched her way across the road, looking for any cars coming up that third lane, a turn lane. When she didn't see anything she went all the way and bam! The driver admitted that he wasn't looking at traffic cause he was watching the police lights up ahead.
When the dust and car parts settle it's Brenna's fault. She's got insurance but the final settlement is yet to be determined. My heart aches for her and the loss of her first safe, new car.
Her body is sore and she is under treatment of a chiropractor. Both her neck and hip is aching....but she says they only hurt when she laughs, or cries.
Accident number two came when one of the fledgling red tail hawks miscalculated and more than likely crash landed, injuring one of its legs.
I discovered this incident on Facebook when I saw someone had posted a news story complete with video of the police officer that found and rescued the young bird from Oak and Broadway. The poor thing was so scared it didn't even bother trying to fly away and easily walked into a large box for transportation to the Dove Lewis Animal Hospital. I am sure that the young bird of prey is now in the hands of the Audubon Society. Whether it will be released back into the wild is yet to be determined.
One of the teens had injured its leg prior to the three leaving the nest this past week. Everyone following the raptor cam was concerned about it. How would the leg injury affect his fledgling activities? Days prior to his leaving the nest the leg seemed to mend and allow him to fly away with his siblings.
However, all of the birds were now out of our sight. Unless we were physically downtown Portland we would not know what the birds were up to. Local folks posted updates on Facebook, but none of us had any control or would be able to assist the juveniles in any way.
Thankfully, the bird rescue was recorded by the local news station, KGW, and we were able to see for ourselves that the bird was injured, same leg as the one injured in the nest. (Today the Audubon Society messaged me that the bird is okay and being watched by their expert staff at the rehabilitation center.)
It's hard for people to watch real life unfold before their eyes. There are no guarantees that these birds will survive beyond their first year of life. In fact, it is almost a miracle that the three hawks survived till now! Death or severe injury could have befallen them prior to their leaving the nest and certainly is a great possibility from here on out.
We cannot keep these birds from harm.
I cannot keep my kids from harm...unless I plan to keep them in a bubble for the rest of their lives, which would be completely miserable.
To live in this world we must accept that bad things happen. That is a part of life. Keeping the bad things at bay is not living. Some of life's most exciting adventures come to us when situations run amuck. :)
The pain and agony of defeat comes with thrill and adventure....if you choose to look at it that way.
Learning also happens. I bet Brenna will NEVER cross a road in that same manner again.
And there are funny memories of this incident for Brenna. Certainly not then, maybe not now... but soon. I did get after Officer J. Fair! He kept doggin' Brenna to get a tow truck to get her car out of the way. The 3rd time I told him to back off. Yes I did.
We will also remember the 'dude' that hit her. What a gem. He admitted he wasn't paying attention to the road. And yet it is Brenna's fault. A lesson to learn.
Pain, heartache and disappointment hurt. But only when I laugh.
1 comment:
Thank God Breanna is OK. Loved this post. It is so true -- life is full of difficulties. Although we cannot protect our kids or even ourselves, we are so fortunate to have a God who does always protect us. That does not mean we will never suffer pain or heartache. But it does mean that in the end it will all be good.
Would have loved to see Mama Hen go after Officer Fair! :)
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